The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial pathogens (e.g. methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA) has increased concerns as to the adequacy of current antimicrobials and pathogen treatment methods. The lethality of such pathogens has often led to treatment methods that are experimental or would otherwise normally be avoided in standard clinical practice. For example, the antibiotic colistin was traditionally considered too nephrotoxic and neurotoxic for clinical use, but is nevertheless used to treat MDR bacterial infections due to a paucity of available active drugs. The growing threat from MDR pathogens highlights a critical need for new antibiotics that exhibit novel mechanisms of action and/or that are able to circumvent known resistance pathways.